Mask of the Schemer

Most connive sources hand you a fixed number and ask you to filter a card or two, maybe grow a counter to match. Pinning the keyword to combat damage dealt turns that flat trade into a compounding one: the harder the wearer hits, the deeper it digs and the more counters it can stack, and the bigger it gets, the harder it hits the next turn. A modest evasive body draws and discards three or four deep on a single connection and comes out the other side larger, which sizes up the loot again on the following swing. The discipline is the discard clause, since connive draws first and then forces the pitch. Counters only stick for each nonland card you throw away, so a hand full of business spells makes every hit a real decision about what you can afford to lose. It also asks for a clean hit rather than mere board presence: point the equipped creature at a wall or a fresh chump blocker, meet a removal spell aimed at it, and the trigger never fires. The engine wants an unblocked path, which is why it pairs with evasion rather than raw stats. Give it a creature that already gets through, though, and the draw-and-grow becomes a snowball that refills your hand while the wearer outgrows anything that could have stopped it a turn earlier.